Stick With Mackinnon? Hooley Has His Say

The Brisbane Bullets collected a much-needed win overnight. Almost a full week after getting turned over by New Zealand to the tune of 37 points they came out onto their home floor and defeated the Perth Wildcats in an overtime thriller.

The victory marks the first win since Sam Mackinnon took over as interim head coach following the departure of former coach James Duncan just two weeks ago.

<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/7hKEVdPty85HpEoergFLty?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

With former coach Joey Wright ruling himself out of contention for the Bullets’ top job during the week, Pete Hooley believes Mackinnon could stay at the reigns for the foreseeable future.

“I think a lot of people are going to throw names out there for the Bullets while all this is going on,” Hooley said on NBL Today.

“There’s a lot to weigh up if you’re looking at that Brisbane Bullets job. For me, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam Mackinnon hangs around a little bit longer and says ‘the perfect piece isn’t out there right now … I’m just going to stick this out and then we’ll go back to the drawing board after the season’.”

Brisbane’s first game after the James Duncan era – that aforementioned 37-point spanking at the hands of the Breakers – was a less than fortuitous result after what was a turbulent week for the club.

As that was the Bullets’ only fixture in Round 8 they’ve had a full week to sit on and deconstruct the result. In last night’s game against the Wildcats their offensive game looked like that of a team with a point to prove.

Hooley is impressed with how they rebounded from that disappointing loss.

“Everyone chipped in and I think they’ll take a lot of positives out of that game,” Hooley said of the Bullets’ performance.

“You come back from getting spanked in New Zealand which was really disappointing. You had all week to wait to have to play.

“So many times so far in NBL23 teams that have got beaten up by significant margins have had two days to turn it around and respond in a game, but they got the job done.”